DUBAI: Economic growth in Middle East and North Africa oil-exporting countries is expected to fall to 3.25 per cent in 2013 due to a relatively weak crude demand, after expanding by almost 5.7 per cent last year, the International Monetary Fund said today.

But oil-importing MENA countries will experience healthier growth of 2.7 per cent in 2013 compared with 1.9 per cent in 2012, though this remains weighed down by political uncertainty, decreased trade with Europe and high commodity prices.

"For MENA oil exporters, 2012 was a year of robust growth, which reached about 5.75 per cent," the IMF said in its annual World Economic Outlook.

The almost complete restoration of Libya's oil production and strong expansion in the Gulf helped to boost this growth, the report said.

"Economic growth is projected to fall to 3.25 per cent in 2013 as oil production growth pauses against a backdrop of relatively weak global oil demand," it said.

MENA oil exporters include OPEC heavyweight Saudi Arabia, and the other five Gulf Cooperation Council members, as well as Algeria, Libya, Iraq, Iran, and Yemen.

The economy of Iran, hit by US-led sanctions over its disputed nuclear programme, will continue to contract in 2013, shrinking 1.3 per cent this year compared with 1.9 per cent in 2012, the IMF said.

Additional oil supplies from Iraq and Libya are expected to "more than offset a decline in oil exports from Iran this year," it said, while "lower net demand for Saudi Arabian exports is expected to result in slightly reduced production."

Non-oil gross domestic product is expected to grow by 4.2 per cent this year, propped up by sustained high government spending, the IMF said.

A slight expansion is expected in 2014 with the growth rate increasing to 3.7 per cent on the back of rising non-oil GDP growth and resuming oil GDP growth.

Saudi Arabia's economy will see a drop in growth from 6.8 per cent in 2012 to 4.4 per cent in 2013. The UAE economy will also see a slower rate of growth of 3.1 per cent this year compared with 3.9 per cent in 2012.

Kuwait is forecast to see a sharp drop in growth from 5.1 percent in 2012 to 1.1 per cent this year, and Qatar's expansion will decrease from 6.6 per cent in 2012 to 5.2 percent in 2013.

Iraq, on the other hand, will continue to widen its pace of expansion, topping its 8.4 per cent growth last year to reach 9.0 per cent in 2013, aided by surging oil production.